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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25383868">Falling in Love (Again?)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torilynn/pseuds/Torilynn'>Torilynn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Android!Squip, Angst, Broadway cast faceclaims, Fluff, Happy Ending, Healthy Relationships, Jeremy Heere's Squip Redemption, Jeremy Heere's Squip Uses They/Them Pronouns, Jeremy/Squip is the main pairing, M/M, Multi, Nice Jeremy Heere's Squip, Nonbinary Jeremy Heere's Squip, Other, Squip using the name Samuel, college age leads, rating will increase later, the others are background</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:34:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,867</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25383868</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torilynn/pseuds/Torilynn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophomore year of college, Jeremy and the Squip Squad rent a big AirBnB and go on winter vacation together. At the nearby gay club, Jeremy meets a cute nonbinary person with strangely familiar blue eyes. Before he can recover from the shock of his Squip's return, Jeremy finds himself being courted by the android now calling themselves Samuel. Can he come to terms with what the Squip did to him in the past? And can he deny the pull he feels every time he looks at those blue eyes?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Brooke Lohst/Chloe Valentine, Jeremy Heere/Jeremy Heere's Squip, Rich Goranski/Michael Mell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. DJ Got Us Falling In Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A year and a half into college, Jeremy still wasn’t exactly the “go to bars and clubs to get drunk and dance” type. His idea of a fun Saturday night still involved video games, but with the “Squip Squad” scattered to the winds after high school, his focus had shifted a bit from retro games to online play with his friends. He and Michael had managed to build a seriously impressive base together in No Man’s Sky, once Rich had helped them figure out the core gameplay.</p><p>Still, with the Squad properly reunited in an AirBnB over winter break, everyone who’d been popular pre-Squips had insisted that they go out to a club as a group at least once during their vacation. Michael had finally gotten everyone to agree on the condition that they went to a gay club, vastly reducing both Jeremy’s chances of running into a drunk girl who wouldn’t take “no,” and the chances of Michael, Rich, Chloe, or Brooke getting harassed for dancing with their significant other.</p><p>And that was how Jeremy ended up in the backseat of one of their two Ubers for the night, wearing his blue dress shirt and black slacks, with eyeliner Rich had insisted on doing for him (and had actually come out looking pretty good, Jeremy had to admit). The wait to get in once they arrived was annoying, and Jeremy had ended up rolling his sleeves down to keep himself warm, but he relaxed once they made it inside and the cold was no longer an issue. The music was definitely louder than it needed to be, but not enough to make his head pound, so that was already scoring this place good points in his book.</p><p>Rich wasted no time in dragging Michael and Jeremy over to the bar and ordering shots for all of them. Jeremy affectionately rolled his eyes at Rich’s enthusiasm. Without his Squip making him act like a tool, Rich was actually a lot of fun to be around. Jeremy could understand what Michael saw in him.</p><p>A few drinks later, Jeremy had rolled his shirtsleeves back up and joined his friends on the dancefloor. Jake was the only one not dancing, chatting up a guy at the bar. Jeremy had to admit, even if he wasn’t any good at dancing, dancing with his friends was fun, at least with alcohol in his system. Even Jenna was clearly having fun, and she was their Designated Sober Person for the evening, on the rationale that she’d be able to take better videos of the others’ alcohol-infused shenanigans that way. </p><p>Jeremy glanced back towards the bar to see if Jake was coming to join the fun, and spotted a guy in a similar outfit to his own, but entirely in white. What brave soul wore white out clubbing? Jeremy was aware of everyone around him raising their arms in the air in response to some cue in the music or from the DJ, and felt his own body doing the same without conscious thought as he looked at the white-clad stranger’s face. He looked familiar, especially those piercing blue eyes… but where did Jeremy know him from?</p><p>The stranger noticed Jeremy looking at him and smiled, getting up from the bar and snaking his way through the crowd towards him. Jeremy noticed a striped bracelet on the stranger’s wrist, taking a few seconds in his tipsy state to recognize the pattern. Non-binary pride. Oops, probably a “they” and not a “he,” then, Jeremy made a mental note as they got closer. Then they were right in front of him, still smiling and looking into Jeremy’s eyes as they danced. It took Jeremy a minute to realize the cute stranger was dancing <em> with him</em>, and felt his cheeks flush. They laughed, and while Jeremy couldn’t hear it over the music, he decided he liked the way their bright eyes crinkled as they laughed. </p><p>This close up, Jeremy was able to get a much better look at them. They were a little taller than Jeremy himself, lithe, and definitely a better dancer. Their hair seemed to be bleached blond, if the dark roots, eyebrows, and barely-there stubble were anything to go by. Either they had absolutely flawless skin, they were excellent at makeup, or both, given the perfectly winged eyeliner. As they raised their hands in the dance, Jeremy realized that their nails were painted, black and shiny. How did they get <em> black </em> nail polish to shine like that? Then their hands came down on his hips, and Jeremy’s heart jumped as they pulled him closer, not flush, but enough to feel the heat of their body. He almost faltered, but something in those bright blue eyes made him relax, letting the pretty stranger take the lead. Time started to blur pleasantly as they danced, Jeremy’s thoughts slipping away from his friends as he seriously considered offering to buy the stranger a drink, and realized he might need to replace the bi pride pin on his backpack with a pan pride one.</p><p>The music stopped, and the stranger leaned close, their blue eyes growing more intense. Jeremy panicked and turned his face away, not wanting to make out with a total stranger, but instead felt their breath by his ear.</p><p>“Thank you for the dance, Jeremy.”</p><p>
  <em> No way. </em>
</p><p>One of their hands skimmed over his pocket where his phone was, and then they were gone, Jeremy’s head spinning as their words echoed in his mind. More specifically, their <em> voice</em>. He could never forget that voice.</p><p>“Yo, tall-ass, you okay?” Rich asked, waving his hand in front of Jeremy’s face. “You look all spaced out, do we need to cut you off?”</p><p>Jeremy looked around sharply, trying to spot the stranger again, but somehow they’d disappeared, despite wearing all white. He managed to catch a glimpse of them at the door, where they smiled mysteriously at him before walking out.</p><p>“Jeremy?” Michael prodded. “Do you need to sit down?”</p><p>“Uh…” Jeremy shook himself a little. “Yeah, that might be a… good idea.” What was he supposed to say? <em> “Did you see the person I was dancing with? Yeah, I think that was my Squip! They looked like them and they definitely had the same voice! How are they back and in their own body? I don’t know!” </em>Yeah, that would go over really well.</p><p>Jeremy let Michael guide him to a barstool and push a glass of water into his hand. Wanting to do <em> something </em> with his free hand, Jeremy pulled his phone out.</p><p>His Contacts were open, and there was a new entry with “Call me ;)” where a name would normally go, a single phone number, and a nonbinary pride flag in the place of a normal photo.</p><p>Whatever the hell was going on, this was definitely the Squip.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Call Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two days after the club, Jeremy still hadn’t contacted the pretty nonbinary person who was probably his Squip, but he’d barely been able to stop thinking about them. Part of him seriously wanted to call them, if only to confirm that they <em> weren’t </em>the Squip (but what else could explain them knowing his name?), and part of him was afraid that to initiate contact would be opening Pandora’s Box.</p><p>Today was substantially more laid-back. The ladies had gone out for a spa day, and Jake was out jogging, leaving Jeremy at the AirBnB with Michael and Rich, the three of them taking turns on an old fighting game Michael had brought along.</p><p>“Okay, I think this has officially turned into us vs Michael,” Rich declared as he lost to Michael for the 5th time.</p><p>“He owns the game, he’s had more practice,” Jeremy pointed out, taking the controller Rich handed him. </p><p>“Or I’m just the best,” Michael added cheekily.</p><p>Jeremy rolled his eyes and picked a new character for the next round. He managed to hold his own well enough to get them at a tie as the timer ran down, but when the game entered Sudden Death mode, Michael beat him easily.</p><p>“Alright, gimme that controller for the next round!” Rich demanded, yanking it out of Michael’s hands. “You’re cheating somehow! Jeremy, give him yours.”</p><p>Jeremy shrugged and handed over the controller. His phone pinged, and he pulled it out to see a text from Christine. It was a picture of two bottles of nail polish, with the question <em> Which color? </em></p><p>Jeremy pondered for a second, then sent back, <em> The green if you’re going for festive, pink if you’re going for fun. </em></p><p>Christine sent back a cheerful emoji as thanks, and Jeremy chuckled. They may have only dated for a few months, but he was glad they’d been able to stay friends. Michael would always be his best friend, but Christine was someone else he could be open and honest with. </p><p>Perhaps against his better judgment, Jeremy opened his Contacts. There was “Call me ;)” just like before. </p><p><em> Fuck it, </em> he abruptly decided. <em> Just get it over with</em>.</p><p>“You guys can play for a bit, I’m going out on the deck,” Jeremt said, standing up.</p><p>“Everything okay?” Michael asked, pausing the game to look up properly.</p><p>“Yeah, just want to call someone,” Jeremy nodded.</p><p>He was grateful he’d actually worn a hoodie today, as he stepped out into the cool air. He made sure the door was properly closed behind him before taking a deep breath and hitting the “call” button.</p><p>They picked up after the third ring. <em> “Hello?” </em></p><p>Jeremy swallowed nervously. That <em> voice… </em> “Hey, it... it’s Jeremy, the guy from the club. I never got your name?”</p><p>A chuckle from the other person.<em> “Well, I’m going by Samuel these days, but you can call me as you know me, Jeremy Heere.” </em></p><p>His heart leapt into his throat. He never shared his last name with people he’d just met. “It really is you,” he breathed.</p><p>
  <em> “There, now, was that so hard?” </em>
</p><p>Jeremy swallowed again. “You, uh… what pronouns does Samuel use?”</p><p>There was a brief pause, and Jeremy had the impression of the Squip blinking in surprise. <em> “I use they/them, as Samuel or as your Squip. Thank you for asking. But I’m sure you have other questions as well.” </em></p><p>“Yeah,” Jeremy agreed. “Like how the hell you’re alive and got a body of your own? And how you hacked my phone?”</p><p>Another chuckle. <em> “We should be having this conversation in person. I can meet you in town today if you’re free.” </em></p><p>Jeremy checked his watch. Early afternoon, and he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “Late lunch okay with you? Wait, do you even need to eat?”</p><p>
  <em> “I don’t need to, but I enjoy it. I know a place, I’ll text you the address. Dress code, casual. I’ll pay." </em>
</p><p>“Alright. See you there, I guess.”</p><p>
  <em> “See you soon, Jeremy.” </em>
</p><p>His phone beeped to signal the end of a call. Jeremy barely had time to heave a sigh before three texts came through in rapid succession. One was the address for a restaurant called BackStage, one was a selfie the Squip had clearly taken, and one was the name Samuel Quinn. </p><p>Jeremy bit his lip, then updated the Contact with the name and photo before calling an Uber.</p>
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